Substitutes

Game Statistics

Is disappointing the right word to use after watching that display, or should I select a stronger word?

When you consider Chelsea were on the cusp of Champions League qualification, if they won this fixture and Liverpool were to lose at home to Brighton, the performance given today was rank.

With the FA Cup Final to come next weekend, against Manchester United, Antonio Conte gave several players the chance to stake a claim for a place in the starting eleven, but on the evidence of today, Conte must be pondering who to select for the showdown with Mourinho.

This afternoon, Chelsea’s defence looked rocky, the midfield looked cumbersome and the attack looked as if they were never going to score and this against a team that has been linked with relegation for most of the season.

It really was a sorry state of affairs and one that has worrying ramifications with a Europa League campaign to navigate next season.

But who’s to blame?

Conte, the players or the board who have let the manager down so badly when it comes to acquiring transfer targets?

Next weekend could be another harsh reminder but, on the other hand, knowing Chelsea, we’re just as likely to cover ourselves in glory, that’s what supporting Chelsea is all about is it not?

Fitting end to a horrible season. Moses and Baka were nothing short of an embarrassment. Absolutely no service to Giroud. Complete confusion on the back line…
After watching it a second time (yes, I’m a glutton for punishment) I could only identify 3-4 players that played at a level deserving to not just wear our shirt, but even be playing in the EPL.
Couple this with the absolutely shambles our 18-19 shirt is, no merchandise purchases for our family next year.
I’m just gutted, confused and gobsmacked at how our Club has fallen to a level where this is the product we put on the pitch. We are definitely not 1-2 players away from contention. We are 5-6 at minimum coupled with a manager that has the ability/courage to not put players on the pitch that are absolute disasters (Baka, Moses, etc…). I find it impossible to believe that we don’t have players out on loan that are far superior to numerous First Team players that we are constantly subjected to watching week in and week out.

As much as I blame the aforementioned three stake holders in Chelsea FC for our abysmal performance this season which culminated in our failure to secure champions league spot for mext season, the bulk of the blame goes to Conte for losing precious point to relegation threatened and mid table teams.
My verdict;let Conte be sacked after all next season cannot be any worse no matter who the manager is.

We thought Chelsea’s first game of the season was a shamble with few similar ones later in the season, but the last one turned out to have taken the cake. I am personally happy that we ended this way though. At least we won’t end up with false believe that we are still among the top six EPL teams, because we are not currently. First, let me emphasize the fact that it is the responsibility of a club (owner and board) to FIRST DECIDE the football style they want their team to play. Then they acquire the management team and players with the style in mind. Chelsea have chosen a defensive style of play for sometime and it had worked well for us with many trophies to show for it. But now, most football teams if not all seem to have found out how to dismantle a lethargic team that is always beaten to the ball like Chelsea. Chelsea can not control the ball kicked out by the goal keeper. So our favorite option is to bring the ball out from the back. But when hard pressure is out on our defense players, the midfield cannot help transit the ball from the back either. And even when we are lucky to bring the ball up, our offense lacks the capability to convert chances because our only weapons are fast break and headers from crosses. They have no ability to break down a narrow defense at all. So, our defense is always under pressure and any little mistake ends up in goals against us. BINGO!! New Castle took the midfield away from us totally today. The solution is to imbibe open, attacking football where all the ten players play offense and defense together and score a lot of goals to win games. My advice is that before we start spending money like a drunken sailor buying all available wounded players around, we first need to imbibe the attacking culture and make our manager (who ever he is) and players buy into it. Based on their adaptability then, we can start worrying about who is to come in who is to stay and who is to go. We must have all our twenty two players good enough and to ready to play, not fielding only eleven players every week. Most EPL teams are playing better and more reliably and consistently than Chelsea now to the extent that we look like a mid table team. We must change our playing style if we want to become a top six team again. WE MUST CHANGE OR ELSE……

Yes, I agree we must change but how can we change when the owner and his board (order takers) do not want to relinquish any form of power to the manager? This has been proven time and again which is not even funny. Until Roman changes his way of thinking or managing, Chelsea will forever be in such ridiculous state of affairs! Maybe things will change if the next in charge can’t muster a string of wins and we end up sliding down the scale until we are relegated! By then, Roman would have sold the club as he can’t be seem associate with a Championship team. Only then maybe Chelsea will wake up. Personally I’m glad Conte is leaving as his vendetta with Roman is suicidal for the club. I’m sure his most recent actions were his contempt way of proving his point, that the team is simply not good enough to be in the CL and that was due to Roman’s refusal to let him select the players he wanted. At least we can now have a fresh start and rebuild again. But be prepared that it will take some doing this time around.

I like what someone on another board said about Conte: “He’s only cared about his reputation all season – about how failure would reflect on *him* and how he can spin the losses into something that inevitable that he could foresee.

He’s resorted to pretending Chelsea are the underdog in almost every game, about how the team must be prepared to ‘suffer’ without the ball. He’s played for damage limitation on almost every important occasion. He’s downplayed the squad from the offset and how they cannot truly compete, how the season before was a ‘miracle’. Rather than instilling belief into his players he was busy writing them off and lamenting how he couldn’t sign anyone.

If that is not sabotage, then I don’t know what is”

Add to this is his odd choice and timing of substitutes and also his inflexibility especially when teaching to another team’s game plan in a losing game.

Not defending Conte, his lack of interest yesterday spoke volumes, but we have had two world class managers look like broken men, the season after winning a title. Not to mention a DOF who bailed halfway through a season . Conte could have got this lot into the top 4,but they stopped playing for him. So many things are wrong and Conte is part of it, but we need to do more than just fire him.